A Knight in the Tavern
by Jae's Stories
Summary: With a rare night off, what better place to go than the tavern he's always claiming to be in? But then, drinking with Gwaine is never the best idea is it? You never know just where you'll end up. A bit of drunk!Merlin with some humour and a maybe a little angst. One-shot.


**A/N: Still don't own Merlin.**

 **This is something I've been working on for ages here and there, it's just a little light(ish) one-shot I wrote to take the edge off writing the darkness and near-constant angst of my other stories.**

* * *

"And so, that was how I, single handed might I add, escaped with both the pig and the innkeeper's daughter!" Gwaine grinned proudly, smacking his hand down on the old oak table for effect. The various thugs and drunkards pitched around the bench all shook their heads in disbelief. Some quietly chuckled to themselves at Gwaine's nonsense, others guffawed at the tops of their voices and slapped him on the back.

That was the sight that greeted Merlin after he'd slunk in through the back door to avoid being noticed by anyone, and made him seriously reconsider his evening. He'd gotten the night off, and felt that maybe, just once, he should go down to the local inn and spend some time there. After all, it was his go-to alibi when he was out literally saving the world. He was regretting that decision quite badly now, as he was jostled and nudged by the various crowds and already someone had sloshed him with an overflowing tankard. He could easily just slip away unnoticed, he could head back to his quarters, enjoy a bowl of stew with Gaius, read some of that book he'd been studying and then get a proper amount of sleep for once-

"Merlin!" Gwaine cried raucously once he'd noticed his mate, and signalled for him to venture closer to what was clearly the rowdiest section of the tavern. It was apparent that the locals who enjoyed a quieter drink had shied away from them, as there was a fair few nursing their pints at the bar.

The warlock sighed, then waved back at the knight and sluggishly manoeuvred himself towards the table. The tavern was packed full of people he'd never seen – and mostly likely never wanted to see again – and deafening with chatter, laughter, clinking of tankards and the occasional fight breaking out. Squeezing himself in between two rather large and intimidating looking men, he was then greeted with a large tankard of ale slammed down in front of him.

"It's on me!" Gwaine laughed, and Merlin chuckled, raising the cup in appreciation and rolling his eyes. He knew the tankard wasn't truly on Gwaine, nothing ever was, it'd merely been bought in his name. Merlin knew that at some point he'd have to have a long chat with the tavern owner and convince him to wipe Gwaine's slate. It wouldn't be the first time, nor he suspected the last. "What brings you down here? I don't think we've ever once drank together."

"I have the night off." Merlin shrugged casually. "Where else to spend it?" He tried to play off his apprehension with the whole situation, not needing another one of Gwaine's 'pep talks' about lightening up and enjoying more out of life. Gwaine smirked, knowing how rare it was for his friend to get some time when he wasn't catering to Arthur's every whim.

"Then my friend, we shall make a night of it!" He raised his tankard to meet Merlin's, ale sploshing all over the already sticky table, and began to down it, waving at the barmaid for more drinks for the entire table – an offer met with loud gratitude.

Merlin shook his head and let out a short, disbelieving laugh; regretting not escaping when he could, and lifted the jug to his lips. He grimaced as the drink washed down his throat, him not being the biggest fan of ale as the bitter taste stuck to his tongue. Still, Gwaine drank more of the stuff than was natural, surely it couldn't be too bad. Another tankard had been placed in front of him, though he was only halfway through his current drink, whilst Gwaine was pushing his second empty jug away from him.

"How do you drink so quickly?" Merlin spluttered, trying to match Gwaine's speed and almost choking on the intoxicating liquid.

"It's a talent." Gwaine grinned accompanied by a humble shrug. "And practice, mate; lots and lots of practice." He picked up his third, at least the third he'd had since Merlin had arrived. And yet, the knight still seemed to be sitting upright, whilst the same could not be said as much for the warlock.

"Cheers." Merlin caught Gwaine's cup with his own, and took another swig, his drink flowing smoother than before. Merlin felt himself getting more and more relaxed in his current company, as his words began to flow unevenly and his eyesight on the edge of blurriness.

A few more drinks later, and Merlin's head was buzzing. He'd had a very deep conversation with a man named 'Stabber' at some point, though he wasn't sure if it was an hour or a minute ago. There'd been music as well, possibly? And someone had ended up shouting at the whole table, Gwaine had challenged the ruffian to a fight and within minutes he'd joined them for a drink. His thoughts now seemed to swim from one to the other, and not much made sense at all. His eyes were also getting heavy, and the world was passing him by in a blur.

In fact, Merlin was so out of it, that he didn't even notice where his feet were leading him as he eventually stumbled from the tavern, prodded by an exhausted-looking barmaid, who'd jangled keys in his face. He'd left Gwaine face down on the table, snoring so loudly he imagined half the lower town would be able to hear him. Somewhere in the back of his mind Merlin was sure he had something to do; something important for someone important.

* * *

The clatter outside woke Arthur with a start. There was a loud row going on outside his door, guards clearly tussling with someone. Was Camelot under attack? Had someone come to assassinate him as he slept?

He made sure his steps were light underfoot, and moved closer towards the door, listening out for any sign of what was going on. He grabbed his sword and braced himself, ready for whatever lay beyond the door. He would teach whatever fool thought he could disturb Arthur Pendragon in his sleep that he would not be taken down so easily. So, to say that the voice he heard coming from behind the door shocked him would be an understatement.

"You- you really do not understand. I need to… I need to…" The strong-willed words were followed by a thoughtful silence, and then something about 'Arthur' and 'breakfast', though the words were too slurred to make out. The voice clearly belonged to a very loud, very obviously inebriated manservant.

Merlin was drunk.

 _Merlin was drunk?_

All the times he'd used the excuse of spending the night in the tavern, he'd not once seen his servant intoxicated, nor even tipsy. Something wasn't right, Merin had never once done this before, even as often as he'd claimed he'd drunk himself silly for an entire evening. Arthur opened the door, to behold the sight of Merlin being pressed (or perhaps slumped would have been a more suiting description) against the wall by two guardsmen. He was attempting to push himself away from them, patting his hands on the men's shoulders, but his swaying limbs did nothing to immovable force of the guards.

"What the hell is going on?" Arthur stood in the doorway, arms folded with temper written all over his face. He did not enjoy being woken in the middle of the night, especially for something as trivial as Merlin not being able to hold his booze.

"Apologies, my lord. We found him wandering down the corridor, he's-" The guard was unceremoniously interrupted as Merlin held up a swaying finger, attempting to press it to the speaking man's lips, something the sentry obviously did not care for.

"Shh! Might wake the king." He declared, with a hint of annoyance. "King's grumpy when he wakes up." Merlin began to chuckle to himself, whilst muttering something about a goblet shaped bruise he'd gotten once.

Arthur simply stared at his manservant, disbelief weighty in his eyes and the smallest of smiles on his lips. He could very possibly have him executed for saying that.

"That." The second guard rolled his eyes, narrowing them at Merlin. "He wouldn't leave, nor shut up." Merlin was a talker. Merlin had been a talker since day one in Camelot, and he ran his mouth off when stone cold sober, so it was unimaginable what loosening his lips would produce.

"Merlin, what are you doing here?" Arthur kept his words slow and short, as it was proving difficult to keep the boy's attention, his gaze wandering off as his vision was still somewhat of a blur. Arthur was one step short of snapping in his fingers in front of Merlin like he would with a hound.

"Breakfast, for the king. But these two-" He paused again for a moment, his brain clearly trying to catch up with his mouth. "Heavy handed oafs," his voice was a little louder than it should've been for that time of night, "won't let me bring the king his breakfast, that's all I want to do." Merlin shook his head in dismay. "Wait a minute, aren't you the king?" The warlock rubbed at his eyes, as if he was finally seeing what was in front of him. "Oh! I've got something big to tell you!" He cackled to himself, sagging against the wall.

"You can leave him here," He motioned to guards, "he's clearly not a threat to me, or anyone in this state." Arthur eyed Merlin, who, after being released, was now struggling to stay on his feet. "Return to your posts, I'll see him to Gaius." The men responded with a respectful 'sire', coupled with a nod of the head before disappearing down the dimly lit corridor. He was sure this would be all over the castle by the morning, guards had a terrible habit of gossip.

"Something… something big." Merlin was murmuring to himself, still with a stupid grin plastered over his features. Despite the circumstances, Arthur noticed Merlin seemed calmer, and dare he say, _happier_ than he'd seen him in a while.

"I'll ask you again Merlin, what are you doing here?" Arthur's annoyance hadn't let up, the manservant would pay for this interruption in the morning, he imagined an extra four or five chores in the state he'd be in once the booze had left its mark would be unpleasant enough for him.

Merlin opened his mouth to speak, took a moment, then closed it again; any thought he'd had disappearing out of his muddled brain. Instead he took a step towards Arthur and almost crashed to the floor, falling over his feet and just about catching himself on the adjacent wall as Arthur skilfully ducked out of the way.

"Arthur, I've got some- something to tell you." Merlin stood, regaining his composure as much as he could before clapping his hand on Arthur's shoulder.

"You said." Arthur narrowed his eyes at Merlin, removing the manservant's grip from his shoulder. "It'll have to wait, you need to go home, and have a sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." Arthur gave Merlin a gentle prod and turned around, intending to head back to bed and get what little sleep he could when Merlin stumbled again, and this time hit the floor.

It wasn't a bad fall, Merlin had landed sideways so his shoulder took the brunt of the impact and he'd managed to not hit his head on the ground, but Arthur couldn't let Merlin walk all the way back to Gaius' if he'd be stumbling and possibly knocking himself out on the walk over.

"Come on." Arthur sighed, rolling his eyes then helping Merlin up as best he could. "You come and sit for a bit while you get your head straight." Merlin stumbled back into his room, and Arthur pulled one of the chairs from his table out and let Merlin collapse into in, while he perched on the end of his bed. "What happened this evening?"

"Me and Gwaine we had- had a…" He paused, rubbing at his sleepy eyes, his brain taking a little bit longer to process what he wanted to say. "Little drink together." It didn't surprise the king one bit that Gwaine had been involved in all this, if Merlin had been trying to match a drunk's drinking, it explained why he could now barely function properly. "I'm sorry Arthur." Merlin suddenly threw his head in his hands, and continued to mumble apologies. "Everything's just so complicated all the time."

"Merlin," Arthur scoffed, "your life has to be one of the simplest I've ever seen. You bring me breakfast and polish my armour, it's not exactly taxing work, is it?" Once the words left Arthur's mouth he regretted them, Merlin clearly wasn't in the mood for joking around. Maybe he did give his manservant too little credit for everything he did, maybe the drinking was a way of letting off steam for him.

"You don't- you don't know!" Merlin looked up at him, then pointed an accusatory finger at Arthur, which in turn began to sway with the rest of him. "You don't know what life is like for me, you don'… don't know anything." All his words were beginning to run together into incoherent ramblings.

"And I thought you were a nightmare sober." Arthur let out a short laugh.

"Sure, sure. Laugh at Merlin." He spat bitterly. "That's what you always do, don't you? My life," He blinked a few times, weighting the room with his pause, "is one big joke to you." He leaned back in the chair, slumping somewhat and looking like a child on time-out.

"You may be inebriated, but I will remind you I am still the king, idiot." Arthur shook his head, though he was stunned at the side he was seeing to Merlin. He'd never once gone off like this, never once complained that their joshing was hurting him.

"King of the prats." Merlin grumbled, folding his arms, though he quickly uncrossed them as he began to lose his balance. "You don't know, you just laugh." He scoffed, though through the slurring and general lack of control it came out as more of cough. "I should just go home." He sighed after a lengthy pause, turning his head to stare wistfully out of the window.

"Yes, you need to go and sleep this off," Arthur motioned towards the door, "and we shall have a long discussion about this tomorrow, when you'll remember it." He fully intended to remind Merlin of this, more than a few times. Maybe it did need more than a friendly reminder, maybe they should talk more about what he meant.

"No. Not that home," Merlin looked at Arthur like he was the idiot, " _home_ home."

"You mean to Ealdor?" Merlin nodded and Arthur felt a crushing wave of _something_ sweep over him. He shouldn't care, so why did the idea of Merlin leaving sting so much? "Why would you want to go back there?" He stuttered, trying to brush of the hurt with a sarcastic laugh.

"It's simpler." Merlin shook his head, his eyelids heavy with sleep and sorrow. "Less prats." He qualified. "I wouldn't keep losing _everything_." That statement weighted Arthur's heart with an unusual heaviness. This wasn't just drunken overreaction, Merlin had meant that. But what had he lost? Arthur couldn't think of something that would warrant this reaction from him. This was more than just homesickness, this was something personal.

"You really want to leave?" Arthur breathed. He wouldn't stop him, if it was what he truly wanted, but that didn't mean he wanted him to go; he'd never say it out loud, but he needed the drunken klutz more than he'd ever let on.

"I don't know." Merlin squinted, and Arthur felt like a façade was crashing down, if only for a moment. Though a façade for what, he didn't know. "What's really here for me? Why do I have to live like this? It's just like this all the time." Merlin was on the verge of drunken tears. Well, either that or he was about to lose the contents of his stomach over Arthur's floor.

"Come on," Arthur hoisted Merlin up out of the chair, a supportive arm around him, "let's get you back to Gaius. You'll never find your way back on your own. Or you'll fall and knock yourself out completely." He kept his grip on the servant firm to keep him as upright as possible, making sure he wouldn't fall. "Tomorrow, we can talk about everything you've just told me."

"Is King Arthur really worried about me?" Merlin slurred dozily. Arthur simply brushed his comment off, feeling hurt that Merlin would believe he didn't care about him one bit. He thought they both knew the opposite to be true.

* * *

The small streaks of daylight that pushed through the window felt like rays of fire as they flooded Merlin's room. He awoke with a groan as drums began pounding inside his head and small men wielding sledgehammers began attacking his skull. His throat felt like he'd swallowed a beach and his stomach pushed waves of nausea through his body. Taking as much time as he possibly could, he inched the covers off him, then rose reluctantly from his bed. Merlin yawned, his scratchy throat protesting the sudden intake of air, then steadied himself by grabbing the edge of his bed in an effort to stop the room from spinning.

Ambling towards the door, he grabbed his discarded shirt from the floor and tugged it on, before pausing, just as he reached the doorway. He blinked a couple of times, rubbing at his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He held himself up as straight as he could whilst the room appeared the waltz before him, and braced himself for the impact he'd receive the minute he pushed that door open.

"Good afternoon." Gaius mused, raising his eyebrows as Merlin appeared in the doorway. "Pleasant night?" Of course, Gaius could tell.

His mind wandered back to the night before, some of it hazy, some of it just plain not there, but nothing involved Gaius. Had he spoken to him? Had he said something to him when he'd returned home somehow? The clearest part of the night had been entering the tavern, and interrupting one of Gwaine's famous tales. There'd been drinks, there'd been _lots_ of drinks, and Gwaine had fallen asleep. He'd left the tavern and… that was about it. Merlin was hoping he'd just come straight home to Gaius' quarters, but a nagging feeling told him otherwise. Then again, that could just be the sledgehammers.

Merlin's mouth opened, and some garbled reply came out, but he couldn't tell what he'd just said to Gaius, unable to concentrate on much else but the throbbing in his head and the churning of his stomach. He took a breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, and tried again, focusing on the words a lot more this time.

"Tavern. Gwaine. Ale. Can't remember after." He almost threw himself onto the bench with his head in his hands. The smell of Gaius' breakfast, or quite possibly lunch as Merlin had no idea what time it was, was making him feel all the queasier.

"Well I can certainly help clear one thing up for you." Oh no. He _had_ woken Gaius. There was a lecture coming, Merlin knew it. "You staggered in here well into the morning," Merlin dropped his head in his hands once more, embarrassment rising from his toes all the way up to his cheeks, which were now burning hot.

"Gaius _I_ -" He didn't know what to say. He didn't know what he _could_ say.

"You must've been talking to Arthur for quite a while." The physician added, quite nonchalantly. That statement sent an ice chill down his spine which all but cured the heated mortification. Panic flooded his brain as his eyes shot open wide.

Arthur? _Arthur?_ He'd been talking to Arthur while he was drunk? Why had he been talking to Arthur?

His thoughts were foggy and there was no connecting them together. He tried searching for a memory of Arthur, anything he could've said to him, but there was absolutely nothing, and that worried him. Although, he had woken up in his room, and not in a jail cell, so that was something.

"Arthur?" He managed to construe a few syllables together than vaguely resembled the king's name.

"Oh yes." Gaius smirked, feigning innocence. "He was the one who brought you home. Don't you remember?" Apparently, his mentor was find the whole business quite amusing, luckily for the warlock.

Merlin turned cold. He had nightmares about fire. He had nightmares about lynch mobs. He had nightmares about people turning against him. He did not think in his wildest dreams that his biggest nightmare would be 'spending time with the king whilst drunker than Gwaine'. What had he done? What had he said? His immediate conscious was telling him to seek out the king, to find him and right whatever wrong had been done.

That was what he'd intended to do as well, for all of one step, before his body had other ideas; convulsing and repelling the contents of his stomach and all that retched drink into a bucket Gaius had swiftly managed to place in front of him.

* * *

That was the scene Arthur was greeted with when he tentatively pushed the door to Gaius' quarters open, nearly two hours later. Merlin was sat at the workbench, clutching at the bucket, half asleep and looking as rough as a beggar. The warlock peaked an eye open as the door creaked, and under usual circumstances would have stood and started making apologies to Arthur, for the drunkenness, the lateness, the state of him at present, but even the slightest movement was making his stomach churn and his head pound even more. Instead he closed his eye again and grunted some noise of acknowledgement to Arthur regarding his presence.

"You look how you sounded last night." Arthur laughed, in a slightly louder tone than normal. "How are you Merlin?" He sat down on the bench next to him, and Merlin tried to swat him away but with his eyes closed managed to swish nothing but air.

"Been better." He groaned, rubbing at his eyes. He had a million things to ask Arthur, but his brain couldn't make the questions form words on his lips. "Last night…?" Was the best he could manage.

"You don't remember?" Arthur did sound concerned at that. Blackout drunk was never good, and it meant he'd have to explain everything that emotional Merlin had poured out to him last night. Or he could lie, tell Merlin he did something embarrassing but usual for the idiot, instead of what really occurred, and he'd be none the wiser.

Merlin shook his head.

"Not a thing." He groaned. "I was in the tavern, with _Gwaine_ ," he paused, emphasising the implications of his statement, "then nothing."

"You tried to bring me breakfast… with no breakfast." He laughed, especially after he saw how Merlin had begun cringing. He was in fact not even looking at the king anymore, rather anywhere else in the room. "You were ready to rough up the sentries as well." Arthur bit his lip, attempting not to laugh anymore, but the thought of Merlin, especially in such an inebriated state, trying to fight off two of Camelot's finest, was hilarious.

"Please tell me I didn't." Came the muffled reply, Merlin was now face down on the table.

"And then-"

"There's _more_?" A stifled groan rose from the doubled-over figure. He'd been blackout drunk, Merlin didn't even know how he'd managed to stay upright, let alone try and pick a fight with a couple of guards.

"We had a bit of a talk, and I walked you back here. I don't think you'd have made it back here on your own, somehow." Arthur rushed, hoping Merlin wouldn't quiz him further. He didn't need to know the extent of his outburst.

"A talk?" Merlin glanced up, "When do we ever have talks? What did we talk about?" Great. Arthur should've just told him they went straight to Gaius'.

Merlin was getting antsy, he hated the fact he'd spoken to Arthur and couldn't remember, there were so many secrets kept from him, any one of them could've slipped out having a 'talk' with him. He was so cautious usually, he couldn't believe he'd been that stupid.

"Just… things." Arthur shrugged, trying to downplay the whole ordeal. "You weren't that coherent…" He hoped that would keep Merlin from prying too much more into what happened, if he could leave the whole event at drunken ramblings and nothing more. They sat in silence for a moment, Arthur contemplating what to say next and Merlin concentrating on keeping both awake and upright.

"I didn't say anything, you know, treasonous then?" Merlin awkwardly laughed, berating his hungover brain for asking such a stupid question, of course he hadn't said anything like that or Arthur would-

"Well, you did." Arthur crossed his arms and Merlin's face dropped.

"I…?" This was it. This was the end of his life as he knew it, he'd have to write a letter to his mother, leave his belongings to Gaius, make Gwaine pay his bar bill…

"You told the sentry guards I'm grumpy in the mornings." Arthur shook his head. "I could've had you out on the gallows for that." He chuckled, and Merlin let out a slightly too hysterical laugh back. "Look, I need to ask you, did you…" Arthur began, awkward about broaching the subject with his manservant; feelings weren't really his strong point. "Did you mean- I mean you said something last night and I need to know if you meant it."

"You're going to have to remind me Arthur." Merlin cringed already, nothing good had come out of last night and if Arthur was bringing it up then it certainly wasn't nothing. His heart was racing and his mind began whirring with all the possibilities of what he could've said.

"About leaving, going back to Ealdor." Merlin blanched, the last thing he'd been expecting to hear. "You said life was simpler there." Another cold chill ran down Merlin's spine. Sure, he had the occasional thought about leaving, everyone must've done at some point, but he'd never voiced them until now. Had he really said that to Arthur? Somewhere in the back of his mind he could recall Arthur's face from last night, and he'd seemed hurt. Did those two things correspond? Was that what Arthur was upset about, the fact that he'd mentioned leaving? He hadn't realised how close he'd come to revealing something important though; already Arthur was suspicious and all he'd said was he wanted to go home. "Did you mean it?" Arthur sounded lost and almost angry, and Merlin felt bad for bringing it up with him at such a bad time. He'd never leave. He was there for the long run and for Albion and for Arthur. Nothing would send him away.

"Don't worry Arthur, I'm not going anywhere. I was just drunk and homesick, I wouldn't read too much into it." The smile he beamed to reassure Arthur didn't quite meet his eyes, and for the first time, Arthur wondered how many of his smiles were genuine, or if they were a façade to hide the pain he'd seen a glimpse of the previous night. He'd be watching that smile a lot closer from now on.

"Who was worried?" Arthur scoffed, but Merlin thought he saw relief flash through his eyes. "You're a god-awful servant." He stood upright, turning to leave, a took one last look at Merlin. "Just, don't leave." He said, his voice low and the quirk of a sad smile on his lips.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed that guys! I will be focussing back on OMAK now this is finished, but I had so much fun writing something a little bit more light-hearted (couldn't escape that angst though, could I?)**

 **Reviews make me happy!**

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 ** _Edit: The lovely people of the YouTube channel Anywhen have chosen this fic to be read in an audiobook style, and it's awesome! If you liked this story and want to hear it read aloud, be sure to check them out._**


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